China reports 1,886 new virus cases, death toll up by 98

BEIJING (AP) — China reported 1,886 new virus cases and 98 more deaths in its update Tuesday on a disease outbreak that has caused milder illness in most people, an assessment that promoted guarded optimism from global health authorities.

The update raised the number of deaths in mainland China to 1,868 and the total confirmed cases to 72,436.

On Monday, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention published a study of earlier cases of the disease, finding more than 80% of people infected had mild illness and the number of new infections seem to be falling since early this month.

Monday's report gives the World Health Organization a clearer picture of where the outbreak is headed, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news conference.

But he added it was too early to know if the reported decline would continue. "Every scenario is still on the table," he said.

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Pete Buttigieg's next test: Winning over minority voters

So far, Pete Buttigieg has made it look easy.

The once little-known former mayor of a midsize Midwestern city vaulted over a former vice-president and several U.S. senators in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire presidential primary. The 38-year-old's fresh face, intellect and turn-the-page message won votes across many demographic groups in the kickoff states.

Now the promise of his candidacy is colliding with the reality of the central question about his viability: Can he win among minority voters who form the critical foundation of the party’s base?

That will be tested Saturday in Nevada, with a diverse blend of Latinos and African Americans, but especially in South Carolina, where two-thirds of the primary electorate could be black voters, the base of the Democratic Party that Buttigieg has struggled to attract.

Buttigieg's strategy is to earn a fresh look from black and brown voters by flashing his support in the first two contests, drawing on the validation of minority leaders who have endorsed him and leveraging the personal networks of his supporters.

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Disgraced religious order tried to get abuse victim to lie

MILAN (AP) — The cardinal’s response was not what Yolanda Martínez had expected — or could abide.

Her son had been sexually abused by a priest of the Legion of Christ, a disgraced religious order. And now she was calling Cardinal Valasio De Paolis -- the Vatican official appointed by the pope to lead the Legion and to clean it up -- to report the settlement the group was offering, and to express her outrage.

The terms: Martínez's family would receive 15,000 euros ($16,300) from the order. But in return, her son would have to recant the testimony he gave to Milan prosecutors that the priest had repeatedly assaulted him when he was a 12-year-old student at the order’s youth seminary in northern Italy. He would have to lie.

The cardinal did not seem shocked. He did not share her indignation.

Instead, he chuckled. He said she shouldn’t sign the deal, but should try to work out another agreement without attorneys: “Lawyers complicate things. Even Scripture says that among Christians we should find agreement.”

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Hundreds still flooded from homes in Mississippi capital

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The swollen Pearl River appeared to have crested Monday in Mississippi’s capital, but authorities warned the hundreds of evacuees in the Jackson area not to rush back home until they got the all clear, and a forecast of more rain put counties further south at risk of flooding.

No injuries were reported from the major flooding in central Mississippi and southern Tennessee. But as the high water recedes, officials expect to find damaged roads and problems with water and sewage pipes. In Savannah, Tennessee, two houses slid down a muddy bluff into the Tennessee River, although its residents had fled earlier.

"Please do not move back into your neighbourhood or into your home until authorities and officials give you the OK to do so," Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said at a news conference.

A near-record rainy winter has forced authorities to release water from swollen reservoirs, potentially worsening the flooding for those living downstream.

“It is a chess match we're playing with Mother Nature," said Jim Hopson, spokesman for the Tennessee Valley Authority.

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Denny Hamlin wins 3rd Daytona 500; Ryan Newman hospitalized

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Ryan Newman flipped across the finish line, his Ford planted upside down and on fire, a grim reminder of a sport steeped in danger that has stretched nearly two decades without a fatality.

At the finish line, Denny Hamlin made history with a second straight Daytona 500 victory in an overtime photo finish over Ryan Blaney, a celebration that quickly became muted as drivers awaited an update on Newman's condition.

“I think we take for granted sometimes how safe the cars are,” Hamlin said. “But number one, we are praying for Ryan.”

Roughly two hours after the crash, NASCAR read a statement from Roush Fenway Racing that said Newman is in “serious condition, but doctors have indicated his injuries are not life threatening.”

During the long wait for an update, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to express his concern. Trump a day earlier attended the race as the grand marshal, gave the command for drivers to start their engines and made a ceremonial pace lap around Daytona International Speedway before rain washed out the race.

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China’s 'War on Terror' uproots families, leaked data shows

Beijing (AP) — For decades, the Uighur imam was a bedrock of his farming community in China’s far west. On Fridays, he preached Islam as a religion of peace. On Sundays, he treated the sick with free herbal medicine. In the winter, he bought coal for the poor.

But as a Chinese government mass detention campaign engulfed Memtimin Emer's native Xinjiang region three years ago, the elderly imam was swept up and locked away, along with all three of his sons living in China.

Now, a newly revealed database exposes in extraordinary detail the main reasons for the detentions of Emer, his three sons, and hundreds of others in Karakax County: their religion and their family ties.

The database obtained by The Associated Press profiles the internment of 311 individuals with relatives abroad and lists information on more than 2,000 of their relatives, neighbours and friends. Each entry includes the detainee’s name, address, national identity number, detention date and location, along with a detailed dossier on their family, religious and neighbourhood background, the reason for detention, and a decision on whether or not to release them. Issued within the past year, the documents do not indicate which government department compiled them or for whom.

Taken as a whole, the information offers the fullest and most personal view yet into how Chinese officials decided who to put into and let out of detention camps, as part of a massive crackdown that has locked away more than a million ethnic minorities, most of them Muslims.

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AP FACT CHECK: Trump's exaggerations on Roger Stone sentence

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is misrepresenting the Justice Department's handling of the legal case of his confidant, Roger Stone.

He's suggesting rampant bias in the department's initial recommendation to a federal court that Stone be sentenced between seven and nine years in prison, claiming that all four prosecutors are former members of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia team. That's not true.

Trump also says the proposed sentence was put forth in secret. He's wrong on that, too.

The president's exaggerations came in an extraordinary week in which Justice Department leaders overruled Stone's prosecutors following a tweet complaint by Trump and lowered the amount of recommended prison time. Attorney General William Barr nevertheless publicly scolded Trump, saying the president's tweets were making it “impossible" for him to do his job.

Meanwhile, Trump spread a variety of distortions at a New Hampshire rally, including about the border wall and voter fraud, and still more in other venues. The release of his proposed budget prompted Democrats to wrongly accuse him of undermining Medicare.

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Virginia lawmakers reject assault weapon ban

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam's push to ban the sale of assault weapons failed on Monday after some of his fellow Democrats balked at the proposal.

Senators voted to shelve the bill for the year and ask the state crime commission to study the issue, an outcome that drew cheers from a committee room packed with gun advocates.

Four Democrats — most of them moderates — joined Republicans in Monday's committee vote, rejecting legislation that would have prohibited the sale of certain semiautomatic firearms, including popular AR-15 style rifles, and banned the possession of magazines that hold more than 12 rounds.

The bill was a top priority for Northam, who has campaigned heavily for a broad package of gun-control measures. The governor's spokeswoman, Alena Yarmosky, said he's disappointed with the result but determined to continue to press for the measure.

“We will be back next year," she said.

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Apple warns China virus will cut iPhone production, sales

CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) — Apple Inc. is warning investors that it won't meet its second-quarter financial guidance because the viral outbreak in China has cut production of iPhones.

The Cupertino, California-based company said Monday that all of its iPhone manufacturing facilities are outside Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, and all have been reopened. But the company said production is ramping up slowly.

“The health and well-being of every person who helps make these products possible is our paramount priority, and we are working in close consultation with our suppliers and public health experts as this ramp continues,” Apple said in a statement.

The death toll from COVID-19, a disease caused by the new coronavirus, was 1,770 as of Monday.

Apple says demand for iPhones is also down in China because many of Apple's 42 retail stores there are closed or operating with reduced hours. China is Apple's third largest retail market for iPhones, after the U.S. and Europe.

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Vandals cover Plymouth Rock in red graffiti

PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — The iconic Plymouth Rock and other sites were covered in red graffiti Monday during a vandalism spree discovered at the site marking the landing of the Pilgrims in Massachusetts 400 years ago.

Officials in Plymouth discovered the vandalism early in the morning. Workers had removed the red spray paint, which included the letters MOF and the numbers 508, from the rock before noon.

Authorities say no arrests have been made and the site was open to tourists.

The rock has come to symbolize the spot where William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims disembarked before founding Plymouth Colony in December 1620.

Police said the vandals also targeted a seashell-shaped sign celebrating the upcoming 400th anniversary of the 1620 Mayflower landing, the Pilgrim Maiden statue and the National Monument To The Forefathers.

News from © The Associated Press, 2020